As Product Developer at SEGA Europe, I manage over 80 licensees and partners. This involves reviewing licensed product submissions for Sonic The Hedgehog, Like A Dragon (Yakuza), Streets of Rage and many other Sega IPs. I specialise in hardlines, which includes a wide variety of product types, such as: toys, plush, publishing, board games, collectibles, art prints, back to school and much more. As a brand guardian, I make sure that licensees and partners follow our style guides and brand guidelines, whilst offering design advice and suggestions, ultimately to create the most exciting possible product for our fans.

As a Junior Designer at HQ my job involves the understanding of multiple aspects of design. From cover concepts, including the likes of photo/asset research, layout/template design, image compositing and typography, all the way through to print. As well as this, I handle complicated briefs for marketing and publicity, creating POS materials and a multitude of social media and web based assets.My role requires excellent time management skills as there are multiple deadlines to adhere to, in both print and marketing. Within the latter I manage several projects, such as author/book blog tour banners and review shareable assets for social channels.A thorough understanding of brand guidelines is also vital, as working on fiction and non-fiction as well as digital first titles and Mills & Boon all have different priorities and ways of operating.The role requires supplying print-ready files to production, so a keen eye for detail (and most importantly errors) is a must.I take pride in working in a multitude of styles, utilising my knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite to problem solve and meet the needs of the brief and the team.

During my time as Design Manager, my team and I created personalised children’s books for a range of household name brands including LEGO, Nickelodeon, Universal, eOne and Penguin Books. I ensured my team and I worked within the strict brand guidelines, to help ensure the approval process was seamless and in turn strengthen the relationships with said brands. The role involved the overseeing and creation of a wide range of high quality e-Commerce products from start to finish, including development and print, marketing materials (direct, digital and social), as well as website and UX assets, building out new layouts and designs for both mobile and desktop versions of the Penwizard website.

Working as the only designer at Penwizard during this time created the need for me to quickly develop a greater understanding and knowledge of all aspects of commercial design, print and marketing. Whilst working with branded assets and intellectual properties I was solely responsible for product creation and marketing assets. I helped launch the company’s instagram and continued to work closely with the newly hired marketing manager to ensure content was on brand, relevant and engaging, whilst also leading on the visual development of multiple newly acquired brands. I also highlighted and updated key techniques during product development that are now vital to Penwizard’s design processes.

During my time as a freelance illustration and designer I worked on a variety of products including publishing, t-shirt designs, bespoke prints and privately commissioned work. As with all design the most vital part of this role was communication. Working closely with each client, learning new techniques and adapting where necessary to ensure that each and every brief was always met to the client’s satisfaction.